1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to message delivery and, more particularly, to systems and methods that provide filtered message delivery based on user-defined criteria.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, many types of mechanisms exist to allow people to communicate. These mechanisms include voice calls, e-mail, facsimiles, and other types of direct and indirect messaging. When the receiving party is unavailable, the sending party must typically leave a message with a mailbox of a dedicated or unified messaging system.
In order for the receiving party to determine whether any new messages exist in the mailbox, the receiving party usually must query the messaging system using a communication device, such as a computer or telephone. To accomplish prompt and effective delivery of the new message, the receiving party must establish a network connection by, for example, connecting to the Internet or dialing a specified telephone number.
Recently, several systems have been developed to notify the receiving party that a new message has been deposited in his or her mailbox. These systems sometimes involve the use of pagers, short message service (SMS), and caller ID technologies. After receiving the notification, the receiving party must still initiate a network connection or telephone call to the messaging system in order to retrieve the full message.
These conventional systems have a number of drawbacks. For example, the systems require that the receiving party have a special-purpose device with specific non-voice oriented capabilities, such as a pager or caller ID device.
Also, the systems do not differentiate between messages. In other words, the systems treat all messages similarly, whether the messages are high or low priority or from important or unimportant sending parties.
Further, the systems require the receiving party to initiate a network connection or telephone call to retrieve the messages without knowledge of the content of the messages. This is particularly true where a message includes an attachment, such as an audio, video, or image file.
Therefore, there exists a need for systems and methods that provide notifications of certain messages, including message attachments, to a receiving party without requiring that the receiving party have any special-purpose device with non-voice oriented capabilities.